Aerial trussed ladder



Jan. 16, 1934. R COWELL AERIAL TRUSSED LADDER Filed June 16, 193;

2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR BY 117M071? fizz ell, Mfi', M GPL l- W my ATTORNEYS Jan. 16, 1934. R, F, oW 1,943,724

AERIAL TRUSSED LADDER Filed June 16, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR mgr/l Q1011,

I5 141 G WM as AnoRNEzs l atentecl .l'an. l6,

on sArEs AERIAL TRUSSED LADDER Robert F. Cowell, Phelps Manor, Teaneck, N. J., assignor to International Motor Company, New York N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application June 16, 1931. Serial No. 544,800

1 Claim.

1 1 and bottom guide rollers on the bed ladder. As

a result, when the total length of the ladders extends beyond sixty five feet the fiy ladder cannot be used unless it is in a substantially verti cal plane or a plane suchthat the fiy ladder does not overhang too much. A further disadvantage of untrussed fiy ladders is that a hose cannot be carried to the top-thereof to direct water upon a burning object due to the great reaction of the discharging water and the consequent strain upon an extended fly ladder.

A further object of the invention is to provide, in combination with a trussed fly and bed ladder, an improved bracing means whereby the fly ladder supporting and guiding mechanism is effectively mounted upon the bed ladder.

Further objects, not specifically enumerated above, will be apparent as the invention is described in greater detail in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure l is a view in side elevation, and in section, taken in a plane indicated by the line 11 of Figure 2 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 2 is a view in section, taken on line 2-2 of Figure 1, and looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2, showing a modified form of the invention.

Referring to the above drawings, the beams of a bed ladder are shown at 10, these beams being formed of any suitable substance and being provided with spaced truss rod posts 11. The ends of the posts 11 are apertured at 12 to receive the bed ladder truss rods 13 which extend therethrough and are secured at the ends of the ladder in any suitable fashion.

It is preferred that the posts be secured to the upper surface of the beams and, for this pur-- pose, are provided with horizontal portions 14 through which lag screws 15 are inserted to" engage the material of the bed ladder beams 10.

' At spaced intervals, certain of the rungs are hollow, as shown at 16 and are adapted to be inserted overbosses 16 which are formed upon brackets 1'7. These brackets 17 extend upwardly and are drilled to receive a bolt 18 which extends through an apertured boss 19 aligning therewith. Boss 19 extends into the plane of the side of the beam 10 and lies flush with the adjacent side of brackets 17 to permit the bracket 11 to be properly positioned upon the beam 10 and secured to such beam and bracket 1'7. Bolt 18 carries an upper roller 20 which is journaled thereon and serves to take any backward reaction which is exerted upon the fiy ladder.

oppositely extending arms 21 are formed'on the brackets 17 and are secured to the beam 10 by means of bolts 22 which extend therethrough. A downwardly extending toe 23 engages the bottom of the bed ladder and thus the anchorage for the bed ladder truss rod posts is carried by the bed ladder beams which receive the: stresses throughout their entire cross section. l

Rungs 16 are welded to the'posts 16 as indicated at 24 and rollers 25 are slipped over the rungs. These rollers are preferably chamfered internally at 26 to prevent any interference with the roughened welded portion 24 and retaining flanges 27 are welded to the rung 16 to position the rollers 25 properly. It will thus be seen that rollers 20 and 25 are in substantially the same vertical plane and thus effectively limit the movement of the fiyladder in planes perpendicular to the plane of the bed ladder. The foregoing structure contributes materially to the factors of great strength and stiffness. All of the metal parts of the ladder beam and brackets for bracing the same are jig-drilled, that is, drilled after mounted in position, so that the ladder is drawn up absolutely square and straight when bolted in position. The ladder bolts 18 not only serve to secure the parts together but additionally carry the upper roller for the fiy ladder, thus facilitating the construction and assembly of the parts.

The fly ladder is provided with spaced brackets 28 which are secured to the sides of the fly ladder beams 29 by means of bolts 30. These bolts pass through oppositely extending flanges 31 formed on the brackets 28 and bosses 32 are formed on the brackets to receive the corresponding rungs 33 of the fly ladderas described in connection with the rungs 16 of the bed ladder. Upwardly extending truss rod supporting posts 34 are formed on the brackets and are provided with enlarged ends 35 through which hollow truss rods 36 extend. Toimprove the rigidity of the construction, the trussrods 13 and 36 are preferably welded to the upper extremities of the posts 11 and 34, respectively, and the resulting construction affords great strength to the ladder when in its extended position. The offset nature of the posts 34 enable the fly ladder to be nested within the bed ladder and between the rollers 20 and 25.

The foregoing construction affords great strength both in compression as well as in tension, allowing the use of a 600 gal. fly ladder pipe and thus permitting the use of the aerial ladder as a water tower.

The foregoing ladder construction, braced as described herein, permits the use of a fly ladder pipe of the above character to heights up to eighty five feet or even more if desired, to build the ladder in desired lengths. The bed ladder construction described affords much greater strength of construction and thus allows greater latitude in the use of the fire ladder. This bed ladder is further adapted to carry a ladder pipe of 1100 gal. capacity which may be permanently attached. The above reaction due to the discharge of water from ladder pipes of the character described above is efiectively taken by the tr'ussing construction described herein and a resulting ladder construction is afforded which may be utilized in far more severe service and for a greater number of operations than any ladders heretofore designed.

It is preferred that the spacing of the rungs of the bed and fly ladders be uniform and that the height of the corresponding truss rod supportting posts at spaced intervals along the respective ladders be the same to make for compactness and neatness of appearance.

In the construction shown in Figure 3, the post 11 is secured to the bed ladder beam by means of the lag screws described hereinabove and a bracket 37, formed with a toe 38 is secured to the post by means of bolt 39. This bolt supports the roller 20 as described in connection with bolt 18 and the bracket 3'7 is additionally secured to the beam 10 by means of bolts 40 which extend through the beam and support brackets 41 upon which the bosses 16 are formed. The lower rollers 25 are therefore secured to the bed ladder rungs 16 as previously described and the construction of the fly ladder truss post supporting brackets conforms to the description of the corresponding elements in connection with the construction shown in Figures 1 and 2. The posts 42 may extend directly upwardly from the sides of the fly ladder beams and since the channels of the brackets 17 no longer separate the fly and bed ladder beams a greater relative width of fly ladder is aiforded than the corresponding width of the construction shown in Figures 1 and 2.

The steel tubular rungs and bracket units are spaced at short intervals, preferably of four rung spaces to contribute strength and rigidity to the ladder in all directions.

While the invention has been described with specific reference to the accompanying drawings, it is not to be limited, save as defined in the appended claim.

I claim as my invention:

A truss construction for a ladder comprising a truss rod, a truss rod post secured to the ladder beam, a separate bracket, means to secure the ladder beam to the post, said bracket having a portion engaging the side of the ladder beam opposite from the post, a fly ladder roller, means to secure the bracket to the post, means coaxial with the last named means to secure the fly lad= der roller to the bracket and post, and rung supporting means on the bracket.

ROBERT F. COWELL. 

